It sounds like you want a "classic" RTS campaign or "Career Mode" where you start with a small number of buildings unlocked that increases over the course of several missions. I think that's a great idea, but I don't mind the current campaign mode either. It does seem a little misleading to call it a "campaign" compared to what you get in other RTS'es. Maybe rename it "Elimination Mode" or something?
You and I also seem to have had different experiences and expectations with the campaign:
If it's supposed to be a learning adventure, it's both too difficult and too complex in the beginning.
The tutorial in the game is actually labeled "Learn to Play", which I think makes it pretty obvious that the campaign is not meant to teach you how. I did the logical thing and played through all the tutorials first before attempting the campaign. The tutorial doesn't actually do a very good job teaching the game, but that's another topic.
Too difficult, because you have no good perks and your buildings are not efficient, and you can't navigate around some problems like lack of water pips or constant dust storms.
The AI does get some unique perk advantages (some are a bit too strong imo), but they have the same structure efficiency problem that you do at the beginning. By the time you make it into the final round you can have structures that are far more efficient than available in the normal skirmish game depending on how you spent your budget.
As far as missing water pips, I've never encountered a map that was missing resources. Sometimes they're frustratingly scarce, but they've all been there.
It's totally possible to win the campaign without any of these. I would even advice people to always invest in the basic buildings as much as possible before investing in anything else.
While it's true that you can, I wouldn't recommend ignoring the advanced buildings completely. Try winning a final mission against two AI who can unlock patents or use the offworld market and you'll regret not picking up one of the advanced structures.
If it's supposed to be just relaxed fun, it probably lacks replayability. I imagine every run will be more or less the same. There is some randomness to the level terrain, perk bonuses, etc., but it's not enough variation to create that feeling of excitement.
I completely disagree with this. I've logged over 40 hours into the game so far, and most of it, probably 35+, has been spent just playing the campaign. I've only won twice so far, once with Expansive and once with Robotic, and I'm currently working on a Scavenger win. I've made it to the last round quite a few times but didn't get there strong enough to win with Scavenger yet. The other two wins took quite a few tries as well, so I've gotten plenty of replay value out of the current campaign mode.
Despite the frustration of the random elements (like never getting the chance to buy an Offworld Market), I'm loving the challenge and replayability. Every run is different due to getting matched up against different opponents in different numbers from different factions on different maps. Sometimes Round 1 is a 1v1 duel, sometimes it's a 4-way FFA. Sometimes I get lucky with a free Geothermal early on and it pays off huge in the following missions. Other times I get screwed and restart after losing the 1st Round.
The Labor Pool is one random element I hope gets some attention or a complete overhaul, honestly. It feels really unfair when you get to the final round and the AI's are loaded with advanced structures when many of them were never even an option for me. Sometimes I also get multiple copies of buildings I never plan on using and only get 1 or 2 of ones I am using.
The labor pool should either be linear, unlocking 1 or 2 buildings at a time, or it should be fully unlocked and function like a store. One where you can pick and choose what you want for the next mission as long as you can afford it. Maybe a cap could be implemented on how many engineers could be bought for a single building type to keep it from getting out of control.
Overall, the colony does still not feel very significant.
I do agree with this. While it's a neat idea, it could use some more depth and clearer implementation.
I think the career idea you mentioned is great, and would add a lot more replay value if there were decisions to make that required multiple plays to see the results of them all. It also makes for an easy story about starting at the bottom with little and working your way to the top, growing your company from mission to mission. This would also give the neutral colony the opportunity to be the center of the story and plot generator since they seem to act as your customers in the current campaign. Contracts, competition from AI companies and all kinds of other fun stuff starts happening.
Overall I like the campaign so far, but I hope it sees some more love and attention.
